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Topic: touring without "eating out" (Read 15939 times)

If you can set aside issues of flavor for a moment, consider combining starches, fats, and sugars in the highest densities possible and then using protein bars for protein. This could be dry potato flakes mixed with olive oil, for example, and hydrated with a bit of water. You could also try something like bringing cake or brownie mix, adding oil and water, and then just eating it with a spoon, that is of course unless you want to try to 'bake' it in a pan over a fire or something creative like that. Quick-cook oatmeal is also dense complex carbs and rehydrates easily, even without heat. Add trail mix to it or some other combination of nuts and dried fruit and/or other sugary garnish and add coconut oil to make it creamy and add very high-density fat calories. These may not sound like the tastiest meals but if you're trying to pack a lot of calories with little weight and you're filtering water along the way, they'll work. Most importantly, experiment with ratios of complex carbs, fats, and sugar that works for you. I once tried living on mainly nuts and sunflower seeds as these have lots of calories and protein, but I found that I just can't get the energy from fats that I can from complex carbs. This may be different for people depending on the ability of their livers to break down fats into simpler carbohydrates, though, idk.

This is a really odd question because we don't really know your reason for wanting to try this without restaurant food !

One different thought comes to mind from my experience with through-hikering, walking along the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, or any other long hiking trail. "Thru-hiking" means that you are walking for a very long time on these trails without stopping except for a rest day no more than once a week. The mind-set of a thru-hiker tends to turn to nothing but walk, eat, sleep and then do it all again. The younger ones that are college age sometimes walk as long as they can until their money runs out.

So when the money gets tight and the appetite gets overpowering, they are famous for walking into a restaurant in the "trail towns", sitting down to order a cup of coffee, Coke, or some other small item. Then when nobody is looking, or maybe even if they are looking, walk over and grab a mostly intact plate left behind by somebody that just left ! This really works good if you are at a place that has a buffet table but lets you in to order off a menu like some KFC's and .......... can't think of that other restaurant at the moment................ ok, it's Shoney's

So if cost and the challenge of making the trip worth remembering are your goals,

I am a host on the southern tier, fixing dinner and breakfast for my cyclists. I like to send them on their way with a small bag of quinoa flakes. Not the grains but flattened flakes. Quinoa is a grain, that is tiny but packed with complete protein. The flakes don't have to be cooked, just pour hot water over them and sit a minute or two. It can be served sweet as in dried berries and nuts or savory as in a few greens or spices. Great with dried coconut. Happy cycling and see you in Palo Verde!

If you can set aside issues of flavor for a moment, consider combining starches, fats, and sugars in the highest densities possible and then using protein bars for protein. This could be dry potato flakes mixed with olive oil, for example, and hydrated with a bit of water. You could also try something like bringing cake or brownie mix, adding oil and water, and then just eating it with a spoon, that is of course unless you want to try to 'bake' it in a pan over a fire or something creative like that. Quick-cook oatmeal is also dense complex carbs and rehydrates easily, even without heat. Add trail mix to it or some other combination of nuts and dried fruit and/or other sugary garnish and add coconut oil to make it creamy and add very high-density fat calories. These may not sound like the tastiest meals but if you're trying to pack a lot of calories with little weight and you're filtering water along the way, they'll work. Most importantly, experiment with ratios of complex carbs, fats, and sugar that works for you. I once tried living on mainly nuts and sunflower seeds as these have lots of calories and protein, but I found that I just can't get the energy from fats that I can from complex carbs. This may be different for people depending on the ability of their livers to break down fats into simpler carbohydrates, though, idk.

Just one opinion, but...That might work, but it sounds awful to me. I know that I get sick of the commercial bars like Cliff and power bars really quickly. Plus I would hate to miss sampling local or regional food. To ride the ST without eating Mexican food, barbecue, or Cajun food, riding across the middle of the Rural US and not trying the local biscuits and gravy, or riding through Maine without eating lobster would be a huge shame IMO.

indyfabz

riding across the middle of the Rural US and not trying the local biscuits and gravy, or riding through Maine without eating lobster would be a huge shame IMO.

+1. I had my first taste of chicken fried steak with biscuits and gravy half way through a century day from WA to ID. Near the end of the trip, we splurged for lobster in Camden, ME. A few years ago I could not spend a night in Butte without trying Pork Chop John's double poork chop sandwich, which made an infamous cameo appearence in the film "Ride the Divide." A huckleberry milk shake in western MT is a must in my book. I know money can be tight, but it is nice to sample some of the local fare.

I ate a ton of peanut butter and apple or pb and honey sandwiches. Breakfast was easy. Boil water for coffee and grits/oats/whatever. Dinner was generally a one pot pasta or stew. Quick cooking legumes like lentils work great as well.

The Feed Zone Portables book has excellent ideas for portable foods to essentially replace pre-packaged energy bars and the like with real food. Might be tough to keep some of them going for 11 days, but you may be able to make some on the way.